Avs' first pick a guess after draft's first day

Colorado didn't have a pick in first round

It is the siren song of every NHL draft: "We can't believe he was still available."; "We were crossing our fingers he'd still be there at our pick."; "This kid has great upside."

Can you blame NHL people for saying this stuff every year? Professional sports drafts are, if nothing else, a case study in projection, where hopes and dreams of their suitors are blurted out in a spasm of excitement. But, in the end, reality is often more disappointing.

The Avalanche did not have a pick in Friday's first round of the NHL draft in Pittsburgh. The Avs know that as well as any other team. Do names such as Peter Ratchuk, Kevin Grimes, Jonas Johansson, Mikhail Kuleshov or Vaclav Nedorost ring a bell?

Only the most hardcore of Avalanche fans know their names, regrettably. All were first-round picks of Colorado but never made it as regular NHL players.

Barring a trade, the Avs will choose at No. 41 in the second round today, as the first of five selections. Are there any I-can't-believe-he's-still-around players left to pick? Of course. Every scout will say that.

But in drilling down to the truth, there are probably a handful of kids about whose availability the Avs are holding their breath. No, maybe not on the level of when Ryan O'Reilly was still on the board at the 32nd pick in 2009, and the Detroit Red Wings were at No. 31. When Detroit didn't pick O'Reilly, Avs scouts literally jumped out of their chairs and did high-fives.

But there are some players that were projected to go in the first round who were not taken.

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They include Guelph (OHL) forward Matthew Finn and London (OHL) defenseman Olli Maatta.

But it's anybody's guess at this point whom the Avs will take at 41. Keep in mind, Colorado took Milan Hejduk and Chris Drury in the third rounds of previous drafts and Paul Stastny at No. 44 in the second round -- 10 picks behind Ryan Stoa, who never stuck with the team.

Russian Nail Yakupov was the first overall choice in the draft, by the Edmonton Oilers -- the third straight year the Oilers had the first pick.

The Washington Capitals had the No. 11 pick, acquired from the Avalanche in last year's trade for goalie Semyon Varlamov. Washington got what several scouts said was a steal in Swedish forward Filip Forsberg, who was rated the third-best pick by Canadian TV network TSN before the draft.

The Avs are also slated to pick 72nd, 132nd, 162nd, 192nd in today's draft, which are in rounds 2 through 7. Colorado had two first-round picks in last year's draft: Calder Trophy-winner Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Duncan Siemens.

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